Find comfort in these cinnamon rolls

My mom is known for her world-class cinnamon rolls, but a few years ago, my dad asked her to switch it up. We’ve been testing a ton of recipes ever since, and these are in the lead so far. One of my favorite hacks is using a piece of dental floss or thread to cut the cinnamon roll dough instead of a knife, keeping the rolls nice and round, and preventing the dough from being pushed down and squished. These cinnamon rolls are sticky, ooey and gooey (like any good cinnamon roll should be), the dough bakes up nice and soft, and the salted caramel in the cream cheese frosting adds a new dimension to an old favorite.

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Cinnamon rolls with salted caramel frosting

Serving: 12 cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

• 2 packets dry active yeast

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1/2 cup milk, hot

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup butter melted

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 ea eggs

• 4 cups flour sifted

• 2 tsp orange zest

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Cinnamon Roll Filling

• 1/2 cup butter melted

• 3/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 3 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Heat over to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, whisk together, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl. combine milk, sugar, melted butter, salt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
4. Add 2 cups of flour and mix together until smooth.
5. Add yeast mixture.
6. Mix in the remaining flour until dough comes together.
7. Place dough on a floured countertop and knead for about 5 minutes.
8. Place dough in a well greased bowl (we used non stick cooking spray) and sprinkle flour on top.
9. Wrap securely with plastic wrap and place on top of your oven while its heating. The extra warmth from the oven will help the bread proof (rise).
10. After above an hour and a half, or when the dough has doubled in size, take the dough out of the bowl place on floured countertop.

For the filling

1. Roll dough into large rectangle. Brush melted butter on the entire surface of the dough. If you have any leftover butter, brush onto your desired cinnamon roll pan.
2. Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl, and then sprinkle evenly over the dough.
3. Begin to roll dough into a cinnamon roll, making a very tight spiral by rolling the dough into itself. Pinch the edges of any seems together.
4. Once your cinnamon roll “log” is complete and secure. Grab some dental floss or thick thread.
5. Slide the string underneath the cinnamon roll log. Decide how thick you want your cinnamon rolls to be - we like ours to be about an inch-inch and a half thick.
6. Gently lift up the string on both sides, and then cross them over each other.
7. Using force, pull strings together and downward, cutting into the dough.
8. Remove the cinnamon roll from the counter and place in your buttered pan.
9. Continue until the entire cinnamon roll log has been portioned out. Make sure you leave space in the pan for the rolls to rise and bake.
10. Brush a little extra butter on top of each cinnamon roll.
11. Cover pan and place back on top of the oven and let proof for another 40 minutes.
12. Remove plastic wrap and bake in oven at 350 for 22-26 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and let cool slightly in pan.
14. Make salted caramel frosting by creaming together the butter, sugar first in a stand mixer or in a bowl with a whisk, and then adding in the salted caramel. Frost with salted caramel frosting and serve while warm!

To get more great recipes from Humphus, visit her blog Kat’s Kitchen Collective.

Source: DiscoverSD